Code Name: Tiger (1964) - 6.0
Aka - Le Tigre aime la chair fraîche
It was a surprise coming across this Euro-Spy film mainly because it was directed by Claude Chabrol. Chabrol was one of the central figures of the French New Wave, not only his films but also because of his assistance to other young directors at the time. He got off to a fine start with his 1958 debut, Le Beau Serge, and then Les Cousins and Les Bonnes Femmes but then box office disaster hit him with his next few films. To the point where he had to join in on the spy craze that was sweeping Europe with three straight films. This one, a sequel and The Blue Panther aka Marie Chantal contre Dr. Kha. They would do well at the box-office and within a few years Cabrol would get back on the path that would make him famous for his edgy psychological crime films. Of course, these are the three that interest me most.
I would like to say that within that basic genre framework, he played with the characteristics and tropes to make it his own but not really. This is very standard Euro-Spy. But with less splash - shot in dull black and white and with little recognizable location shooting. Its hero is played by Roger Hanin who also wrote the script and had established himself as a tough guy in a number of films - two being part of the Gorilla series of spy films. Handsome enough and with a gallant attempt to do action with his karate chops. But it is the female co-star that most of us will recognize - the lovely and desirable Daniela Bianche who was the Bond girl in From Russia with Love released the year before. In another tip of the hat to the Bond franchise, when the villains make an exchange at an airport bookstore, the Fleming book of From Russia is on full display.
This is also a clue that the film is not to be taken entirely seriously. Parts of it feel like light parody - the Q type character, the dwarf killer, the junk yard car crusher, the masked wrestlers - but both Hanin and Bianche seem to be playing it straight and the chemistry between them has a buzz to it. In an intriguing opening scene, a British agent is stabbed to death and the killer runs through the streets of Cairo (I think) until he is picked up by a fellow conspirator. He is taken to the home of the leader - who of course we can't see - paid off and in traditional villain custom killed. The strange thing is there was clearly a flood of sorts and the lovely villa has about a foot of water in it that they have to wade through.
The plot revolves around a deal between France and Turkey in which Turkey has agreed to buy a number of fighter jets. Someone wants to stop the signing - Greece perhaps - and there are two teams that want to assassinate the Turkish minister before he signs. Tiger (Hanin) is appointed to protect him. The Minister brings along his wife and daughter - both attractive enough that I wasn't sure which Tiger would seduce. He goes for the daughter, Daniela - good choice. Tiger isn't really good at protecting - the minister is almost murdered by the dwarf hiding in a delivered bird cage - he comes out with a pigeon on his head - and the daughter is kidnapped at the opera in a great scene as he stands idly by. But he is much better at tracking them down and there are a few punch ups along the way. It isn't bad just nothing special other than Bianche who looks fabulous in black and white too. As a note of small interest - the zonked out never blink blonde girlfriend of the villain is Christa Lang - soon to be married to Sam Fuller for 30 years until his death.
An Orchid for the Tiger (1965) - 5.0
Aka - La Tigre Profumata Alla Dinamite
This is Claude Chabrol's sequel to Code Name: Tiger (1964) and it has a larger budget and was filmed in color. It purports to take place in French Guiana, but the only locations listed are in Spain. It is going along fine with some decent if silly set-pieces and then the ending is such a clunker that I lost any enthusiasm for the film. So, let's keep it short if not sweet. Tiger (Roger Hanin) is sent to French Guiana to supervise the navy bringing up gold from a discovered galleon. Was there ever a spy film in the 60's when the hero landed in a plane and the enemy wasn't waiting for him. It is like their arrival was published in the social column of the local paper. Mr. Tiger of the French Secret Service will be landing at 3pm on flight number 25. Please feel free to be on hand. And try to kill him if you so wish. They had already tried killing him back in France from a Ferris Wheel but failed. The soon to be dead from suicide less than able killer was kind enough to have a note pinned to his clothes warning Tiger. From Orchid, the well-known global crime organization with higher aspirations. To take over the world for blonde-blue eyed people. Sound familiar? Yes, the MAGA Party.
They have to begin somewhere and so are in French Guiana to begin the revolution. Viva La Revolution. The gold is stolen to buy weapons but when the gold is lost to Tiger, Orchid decides he will take uranium instead. And send it in animal cages to Europe where no doubt he has a machine in his basement that will build nukes. Because that is how easy it is. Just ask the Iranians. Enter into this thankfully is the widow of the arms seller who for mysterious reasons they executed - she is the lovely Margaret Lee, who managed to be in a lot of genre films like this in the 1960's and is always welcome.
She tells Tiger that she can't wait for when the blue eyed blond haired rule the world and then of course sleeps with him. Earlier on, the little sex kitten who executed the arms dealer with a few machine gun blasts invites Tiger over to her boudoir, sleeps with him and then neatly pushes a button that slides her bed out of the room and about five heavies into the room to kill Tiger. Fortunately for Tiger, they all forgot their guns. But this is all good compared to the dreadful ending when Orchid and his fellow evil-doers put Tiger into a cage and have two men attack him with whips while they watch - forgetting that one of the men has dropped his machine-gun that eventually Tiger notices as well. Oh. A machine-gun. Perhaps I should pick it up.
The Blue Panther (1965) - 6.0
Aka - Marie Chantal vs Dr. Kha
Claude Chabrol directed this stylish light-hearted spy confection in between his two Tiger spy films. Like the Tiger films it wanders between being a standard semi-serious Euro-Spy film and one spoofing the genre - tilting towards giving it a tickle in the ribs. But he creates scenes that are as tense as a Hitchcock film, but it is all set in a world of absurdities. The cinematography is brilliantly colorful with eye-catching color schemes and a touch of the exotic as it is primarily set in Morocco. At 110 minutes it perhaps outlasts its snazzy welcome but if you start feeling bored just look into the dollop sized brown eyes of its heroine. More villains than you can keep track of, a nightclub with a belly dancer and appreciative men who ignore a dead body falling from the balcony, a jeweled McGuffin to keep the film going, a Perils of Pauline feel and a lot of not very bright choices by everyone.
Marie-Chantal is on a trip to the Swiss Alps to ski with her nitwit cousin (Pierre-François Moro) when a man sits down at their dining table and after some chit-chat asks her to do him a favor. Beware of strangers on a train asking for favors. He is Kerrian (Roger Hanin) and he has just cold-bloodedly killed a man sleeping in his berth and stolen a piece of jewelry around his neck shaped like a blue panther with ruby red eyes. He realizes he is surrounded by foes and so asks her if she would mind holding on to the jewelry till they get to their destination. Stolen? No of course not. She agrees and launches herself into a world of spies and deceit. At the top is Dr. Kha played with deadly snake like charm by an old favorite - Akim Tamiroff. Then there is the Russian father and son team in which the son gives the orders - he is about ten years old. An American is in the mix - sickly pale and mincing with a smile like a fetid swamp. The seductive Olga who sheds ample amounts of crocodile tears in order to get the Blue Panther. A handsome free agent (Francisco Rabal) whose side is hard to discern but manages to be in the right place at the right time to help Marie-Chantal a few times. Throw in a few other killers as well.
They all end up in Morocco and the game continues - find the Panther and kill Marie-Chantal if you have to. She keeps telling everyone she doesn't have it, but no one believes those big brown eyes. She is a bit of an idiot, never really understanding that people are out to kill her and constantly putting herself in danger but at the same time remarkably resourceful when they do come after her. Marie-Chantal is played by Marie Laforêt who besides her acting credits was a very popular singer with over 35 million albums in sales. Some of her songs can be found on those French female compilation cds. Olga is played by Stéphane Audran who was Chabrol's wife at the time and appeared in many of his early films.
